❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Jesus Values Encountering Each Person Personally (John 4:1-26) Mari Ikeda Today we will read 4:1-26 as a continuation of the Gospel of John. 4:1-42 is actually one story, but since it is so long, I decided to read it in two parts. Even so, today’s verses 1-26 are long enough, so today I would like to read them by omitting some of the detailed explanations. Today’s passage depicts an encounter between a woman and Jesus. I think it is shown here that Jesus is the one who values the encounters with each one of us. Now, let’s start reading, firstly verses 1-6. A. God’s plan…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) ק (Qoph) Call out to the Lord with all my heart　 Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119 – A Hymn to the Law (19/22) Psalm 119:145–152 Andy Nagahrara We continue with Psalm 119, which I have been talking about in a series for a while. Today we will take up verses 145-152, where the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “ק (Qoph),” is placed at the beginning of each line of the 19th paragraph. What is impressive in today’s part is how the psalmist repeatedly calls out to God. Have you ever had the experience of calling out to God or crying out to…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Jesus Is God’s Truth (John 3:31-36) Mari Ikeda Continuing from the Gospel of John, today we will read 3:31-36. This section is like a summary of chapters 1 to 3 so far. Like verses 16-21, which we read last time, it is considered to be the narration part by John, who wrote this gospel. John’s sole purpose here is to reemphasize to the readers that Jesus, as a historical figure, is God Himself, who created the world, and that He is the one who reveals God’s truth. It’s a short section, but I’d like to divide it into two parts and read it. First, verses…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) צ (tsadeh) Righteousness Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119 – A Hymn to the Law (18/22) Psalm 119:137–144 Andy Nagahrara Now we continue with Psalm 119, which I have been talking about in a series for a while. Today we will focus on verses 137-144, where the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “צ (tsadeh),” is placed at the beginning of each line of the 18th paragraph.Although the origin of the letter is not clear, the name of the letter is also tsadek (צדיק/tsadík), which means the righteous one, or righteous, and in fact many words translated as “righteous” appear in today’s texts. I…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) We Cannot Replace Jesus (John 3:22-30) Mari Ikeda      Today we are reading the continuation of the Gospel of John series, 3:22-30. This is actually the last time John the Baptist appears in this gospel. Appropriate for his final appearance, John’s words in this passage teach us something very important, as if they are his testament. That is today’s title, “We cannot replace Jesus.”      We are told to love the people around us as Jesus loves us, and we can say in a way we are given the role of loving them on behalf of Jesus. But no matter how far we…